Antimicrobial Resistance Research Threatened by Budget Cuts

HealthDay News — Proposed budget cuts could seriously hamper efforts to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR), according to an article published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Helen W. Boucher, MD, from Tufts Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues discussed the impact that proposals by the Trump administration could have on efforts to combat the threat of increasing resistance to antimicrobial agents.

The authors write that the president’s budget request, released in May, would reduce the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s AMR funding by 14% and place it within the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which the administration is seeking to repeal.

The budget would also cut National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases funding, reducing development of new antimicrobial drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines. In addition, a proposed 51% cut to the US Agency for International Development’s global health programs would drastically impair the agency’s ability to support antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention.

“Over the past 2 years, our nation’s health experts and leaders have worked diligently to enable the United States to tackle AMR head-on. If now enacted, these proposed budget cuts would reverse this course, which would go against the widespread agreement of experts and be to the detriment of our nation,” the authors write.